Folding and pressing mechanism



Aug. 14, 1928.

E. F. BALDWIN ET AL FOLDING AND PRESSING MECHANISM J w? do Q Q rinr giilllril Filed March 25, 1926 Patented Ang. 14, 1928.

llldli. ST'TES PT??? EARL BALDWIN AND FRANKE. VTOODS, 0F GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS .TO AMERICAN FIBRE CORPORATION, OF GARDNER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CGRPORA- TIOII' OF MASSACHUSETTS.

FOLDING AND ?BESSII TG MECHANISMI.

Application filed March 25 1926. Serial No. 97 470.

This invention relates to mechanism for folding and pressing strip material and is particularly adapted for folding and pressing a strip of 'unnned or glued fiber or heavy paper to form an artificial fiber reed.

Such reed is made from heavy and tough fiber or paper, such as kraft paper, and we have found it advisable to foldand press the paper to break down the fiber along the fold lines before applying gum thereto. The paper is then'untolded and flattened, after which it is coated with gum or glue and is preferably partially dried before refolding.

Our folding and pressing mechanism 15 particularly well adapted for performing the refolding and repressing operation on a.

strip of gummed or tacky fiber or similar material. Many features of our invention are however'well adapted for more general application. I I

It is the general object of our invention to provide foldingand pressing mechanism which will 'fold and press strip material to excellent advantage, particularly after being coated with or glue.

Other features of our invention relate to arrangements and. combinations of parts which will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. 7 a l A preferred. form of the invention 1s shown in the drawings in which I 1 is a sectionalside elevation of our improved folding and pressing mechanism; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a portion of the folding mechanism;

Fig. 3 isa side elevation of a pair of folding rolls, looking in the direction'of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a right hand side elevation of the pressing mechanism, looking in the direction of the arrow 4. in Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detail plan view looking in the direction of the arrow 5 in Fig. 1; and

Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detail views illustrat ing different steps in the folding and pressing operations.

Referring to the drawings, our improved folding and pressing mechanism comprises folding rolls 111 and 112 of a specialconstruction to be described, and presser rolls 121 and 122, also of a construction especially adapted to the purposes of our invention.

The strips of fibre or paper S as they apdicated in Fig. 8.

proach the folding rolls are drawn over a fixed guideplate (Fig. 1) and then pass between'the folding rolls 111 and 112 mounted upon vertical studs or bearings 113 in a cross bar 114 bolted to the frame of the machine. It will be understood that a separate pair of rolls 111 and 112 is provided for each strip of fibre S. 'Each roll 111 is provided with a groove 115 and each roll 112 is provided with a thin flange or rib 116 extending into the groove 115 and adjacent the lower portion thcreot. The rolls 1.11 and 112 are preferably formed of some non-corrosive metal such as brass and rotate freely upon their pivot studs 113.

As the strips S (Fig. 6) is drawnbetween a pair of folding rolls 111 and 112, the strip is readily refolded to the condition shown in Fig. 7, with the lower fold passing under the rib 116 and the upper and middle folds passing above the rib 116.

The folding device thus described is particularly effective in very quickly and easily refolding a fibre strip which has been previously folded, and unfolded and thereafter gummed. The folding mechanism is of such a construction that it is not easily obstructed by the gum and loose fibre which may be detached from the partially dried and sticky material as it is pulled between the rolls.

As the strips S pass from the rolls 11 and 112, they enter the grooves 120 of the. lower presser roll 121. which forms a part of the pressing mechanism. One of the narrow upper presser rolls 122 is provided for each strip Sand for eachgroove 120, and presses the folded strip firmly into the bottom of the groove to the finished form in Each upper roll 122 is preferably mounted upon an anti-friction bearing 123 at the lower end of a vertically movable guidcbar 124. Eachguide bar. 124 is slidable in a vertical slotin a fixed cross bar 125 and is held therein by a cover plate 126.

A heavy coil spring 127 is attached to a stud 128 at the upper end of each guide-bar 124i and at its lower end is secured to the cross bar 125. The springs 127 thus act to press the upper rolls 122 firmly downward into the grooves of the lower roll 121.

A release lever 130 is pivoted to each guide-bar 124, as indicated at 131, and when lit) V swung upward in the direction of. the arrow A. in Fig. 1, the cam end132 of the lever will engage the upper face of the cross bar 125 and raise the corresponding presser roll out of its groove-120. This separation of the rolls is very desirable when it is necessary to rethread the fibre through the ma chine.

The rolls 121 and 122 act as feed rolls to draw the strips S through the folding rolls. The grooved roll 121 also cooperates with the upper presser rolls 122 to press the gummed layers of fiber firmly together, and

furthermore acts tore-size the fiber reed, delivering a finished reed of uniform Width. 7 As .each reed leaves the bite of the press ing rolls, it is engaged by a finger 133 (Fig.

5) on a stripper plate 134 which clears the strip from the groove in the lower. roll.

Our improved folding and pressing mech anism as above described has been found particularly well adapted for folding strips of material which have been coated with gum or glue and partially dried so that they are in a very. sticky condition which makes them difficult to handle in the ordinary type of folding mechanism. The sticky material may be drawn between the'freely rotatable folding rolls 111 and 112 without inconvenience and the different layers of the material are folded upon each other by the action of the rolls without forming such inadvertent contact between the gummed surfaces as will prevent the formation of a uniform and perfeet reed.

Furthermore the grooved roll and the freely rotatable upper presser rolls are also particularly well adapted for handling the sticky material and for pressing it to an exact and uniform width.

Having thus described our invention and the advantages thereof we do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what we do claim is:

1. A mechanism for folding and pressing a strip of fibrous material which comprises a grooved folding roll and a flanged folding roll, the flange of the latter roll being relatively thin and projecting into the groove of the first-mentioned roll, but spaced from the walls of the groove to provide clearance for the fiber strip between said rolls.

' 2. A. mechanism for folding and pressing a strip of gummed fiber whleh comprises a lower presser grooved folding roll and a flanged folding roll, the flangeof the latter roll bein rela-' tivelythin and projecting into the groove of the first-mentioned roll adjacent one edge wall portion of said groove, said rolls being freely rotatable in positions closely adjacent but providing clearance for the gummed fiber between said rolls; i

3. A mechanism for folding and pressing a strip of gummed fiber which comprises a grooved folding roll and a flanged folding roll, the flange of the latter roll being relatively thin and projecting into the groove of the first mentioned roll, said rolls beingrotatable about adjacent parallel axes and said gummed strip being fed thereto as disposed in a plane substantially perpendicular to said axes. V

1; A folding and pressing mechanism which comprises folding rolls loosely mounted on adjacent parallel axes, one of'said rolls being grooved and the otherof said rolls formed with "a relatively thin flange projecting into the groove of the first mentioned roll, andmeans to draw a strip of gummed and sticky fiber between said rolls, said latter means comprising a grooved driven roll and a freely rotatable presser roll having a portion projecting into the groove of said driven roll and effective to compress folding and pressing mechanism.

means comprising agrooved driven roll and a'freely rotatable presser roll having a portion projecting into the groove of said driven roll and effective to compress the folded fiber V therein to the full width of the groove,and means for pressing said presser and driven rolls together, and additional means for manually separatingsaid freely rotatable roll from said driven roll and for holding f the separated roll'in raised position.

In testimony. whereof we have hereunto aflixed our signatures.

, EARL F. BALDWIN.

V FRANK n. WOODS, 

